In a market dominated by dull, identikit boxes, the Samsung DVD-SH875M, the company's latest HDD/DVD recorder, stands deļ¬antly apart.

Its minimalist chassis ā€“ with a ļ¬‚at, glossy black fascia incorporating just a few buttons ā€“ and small display panel lends the DVD-SH875M the sort of well-dressed sheen that makes current Panasonic and Pioneer models green with envy.

Recording features

The DVD-SH875M can record up to 421hrs of video on its 250GB hard disk drive, albeit at the lowest quality, while the high-quality XP mode offers a maximum recording time of 53hr. The standard record mode offers a more than reasonable recording time of 106hr.

As well as hard disk recording, the deck offers support for a wide range of recordable DVD formats: archiving to disc should be a breeze. As with the hard disk, there are several modes to choose from,
offering variable recording quality and making sure that you can get as much as possible onto to one disc to free up more recording space.

A Flexible Recording mode scans the remaining time on the disc to ļ¬nd the most suitable recording setting. As with most products of this kind, the DVD-SH875M enables high-speed recordings from the hard disk drive to DVD and vice versa.

Freeview+ deck

You'll also ļ¬nd a comprehensive range of connections, including an HDMI and a pair of RGB Scarts ā€“ the second of which is particularly handy for making recordings from an external set-top box.

The inclusion of a USB port means you'll be able to attach an MP3 player, digital camera or USB memory stick to transfer your music and picture ļ¬les, as well as DiVX movie ļ¬les.

Additionally, this model boasts Freeview+ status. You'll be able to enjoy the beneļ¬ts of a seven-day EPG and series link ā€“ you'll never miss an episode of your favourite programme again.

What's more, the Anynet+ (HDMI CEC) capability means that you can operate any compatible kit
with just one remote. Other features include Time Shift, enabling you to pause live TV, along with Dolby Digital and DTS bitstream output.

Sluggish EPG

The Samsung DVD-SH875M's onscreen menus are laid out well and attractively designed, so it's a shame about the remote control.

For starters, the handset is awkward: there are far too many buttons packed in, making them difficult to use. Several of the most important functions (including Record and Guide) are squashed together at the bottom of the remote, making them difficult to access quickly. The labels next to these buttons are a bit confusing too: they're so close together it's not always clear to which button they are referring.

We also found that the Freeview functions, despite being well presented, were clunky in operation. Flicking through TV channels is somewhat slow, for example, while the EPG takes an irritatingly long time to operate.

Although there's no denying that the deck's fascia is beautifully designed, the text on the display is far too minute and faint to easily read. It's especially problematic when trying to select recording modes ā€“ we simply couldn't see what was written from a normal viewing distance.

Impressive upscaling

Freeview images are perfectly satisfactory with good colour reproduction and sharp edges, with the upscaling helping make the images a touch better than some other Freeview sources we've seen.